Atari the Terrier
by akaeve
Summary: Just a little Tigger story, for all the fans of Tigger and Gibbs


Tigger was in one of those hyper, hyper moods, she had carefully dissected Kitty Stevens' knitting, leaving it in a state of disarray, one of the knitting needles had for some reason decided to hide under a chair. Tigger had tried to reach, but the pin moved further back…..bored with this, she now decided it was time to upend her empty food dish onto the kitchen floor with such deft, that it now stood upright against the fridge door, looking like a mirror.

Again bored, Tigger went to find her sister Fifi, who as usual, had the best seat in the house and was peacefully sleeping, the occasional purr and contented sigh annoyed Tigger to pieces. She quietly jumped onto the arm of the couch and stealthily moved along the back, low like a leopard or lion waiting to pounce on its unsuspecting prey….raising herself up to a full height she leapt down beside Fifi, who now gave the most blood curdling cry…..Kitty sprang from the kitchen to find two balls of indistinguishable fur rolling around the room.

"Right that does it, I know who started this, and yes, you Tiggs, so don't look like butter wouldn't melt in your mouth and go outside," as Kitty picked the squirming ball of fur by the scruff of the neck, thus quieting Tigger down, the look or smile on Fifi's face was one of pure Oriental bliss, as she curled up again on the couch, and closed her eyes.

Outside was cold, it certainly wasn't Tiggs' cup of hot milk, so with one look at the back door, she flicked her tail in the air and headed for Gibbs' house, at least he didn't mind her.

-oOo-

Arriving through the undergrowth, Tigger made her way to the basement window and carefully looked in, yes Gibbs was there carving something. She sat on the windowsill casting a long dark shadow over Jethro's work, "Might as well come in Tiggs, you know the cat flap," he shouted not looking up.  
Tigger entered the house, and made her way to the basement, "Meooww meow meow," she began to explain.

"Know Tiggs, not much fun eh?"

"Meoww," Tigger replied.

"Wasn't your fault…as usual. Want some milk and treats?" as he watched Tigger, jump up and headbutt him with her head, "Hey Tiggs, I'm the only to do that, but come on, stairs," as he helped the cat from the work bench and watch her run up the basement steps to the kitchen, her tail held high.

-oOo-

Gibbs watched as Tigger settled down in front of the fire, and gave herself a bath, there was something comforting about an animal contented, the gently purring reassuring, not only in the trust of you but the trust in the animal, his only complaint was the fact when they had 1st met she loved to scratch the wood cladding, until he persuaded Kitty to maybe have her declawed. Kitty wasn't in agreement but did agree to regular pruning, and now a gentle harmony flowed throughout Gibbs' house.

He had built a cat flap for Tigger, who occasionally did arrive unannounced, but then when he had to dash off on a callout, he knew Tigger would leave when she wanted, except for the winter nights, the snow, when he came home tired, he would sometimes find a warm musical hot water bottle in the bed.

He had told Abby, who now announced she wanted to stop over.

It wasn't that Tigger didn't like Abby she did, Abby brought gifts, and there was nothing better that checking the bags for new toys or goodies, gifted of course by Abby's brother, but the wanting to cuddle, cuddle, sometimes it made Tiggers' fur stand on end, but Tiggs knew which side her bread was buttered and also was given butter off Abbs' croissants, but the red drink was a little blahhh. Tigger, being Tigger, had tried, but promptly tried to bury the drink with her paw, much to the laughter of Tony and Tim, who came off badly after that, Tim getting a bout of the sneezes and Tony's new suit ended up quite furry and pulled. Oh yes Tigger was some girl.

-oOo-

So it came to pass that Gibbs got a call, the team were on "call", Tiggs loved that phrase, she was always on "call" and usually liked to ignore, but on this particular day, the man Gibbs gathered his belongings and took his gun from its place of safe keeping, Tigger cowered, she remembered the first time she had met the man Gibbs and the dead body, she didn't like the noise guns made.

"I have to go Tiggs, but there is food and water for you and you know where the cat flap is, all I ask is that you behave," Gibbs now added as he watched Tigger watch him from the rug by the fire.

It had been in recent weeks that houses in the area had been broken into. The owners hadn't really known how it was done, they had been in bed asleep or just popped out and the police were no wiser. Somehow someone had entered the house and it would appear not to have been forced entry. An inside job, or outside as it was going to turn out.

The police had advised that windows should be not let open or if open, then just enough to let in fresh air and upstairs ones. What was noticeable or should that have been, a common denominator in some cases, was that some of the houses had cat flaps.

It had been that particular evening, and Gibbs' house was now the target. The thieves had seen the cat flap; they had been watching and knew that a cat didn't actually live there. Maybe the guy had had a cat at one point and never bothered to remove. They also knew that the guy worked funny hours.

What they didn't know was that the guy was a federal agent, and that Tigger did stop over now and again.  
Gibbs arrived home to find two legs frantically pushing and shoving at nothing, he thought he could here cat purring. Looking through the front window he saw Tiggs playfully biffing the poor terrier's ears and nose. Gibbs took out his cell and dialled the police, after which he carefully helped the now terrified dog from the flap and helped it into the house. The dog sat petrified on the rug at the fire as Tigger appeared to guard.

The police now knew how it was done. The burglars would let Atari in through the cat flap or let him squeeze in the open window. The dog had been trained to look for keys, either house keys, if the owner asleep or any spare keys, the dog could find. Having retrieved the dog would return the way he came in and give to the burglars.

**The End**


End file.
